FP1: Lewis got through his planned programme with no difficulties.

The session was briefly stopped so that debris from Lance Stroll's car could be removed at turn 19. Both drivers worked on preparing for the race and for Sprint Qualifying. Lewis ran the Medium compound tyre, which it is obligatory to use in the first two parts of qualifying, that decides the grid for the 100 km race. Charles had also gone out on Mediums before having to pit without setting a time, so that his only lap time from the run he had done earlier was on the Hard tyre. Charles had a gearbox problem in the closing minutes of the session.

SQ1: Prior to the session, the gearbox on Charles' SF-25 had been changed following the problem in free practice. All the cars were on Medium tyres as per the regulations. Lewis got through to the next phase comfortably on his first run, but Charles needed to go again and encountered a lot of traffic on his flying lap.

SQ2: Once again in this session, Medium compound tyres were obligatory. Charles and Lewis both needed to do two runs to ensure they made the cut to the final phase.

SQ3: Now it was time for the remaining 10 drivers to fit Softs. As is often the case in Sprint Qualifying, they all went for just one run: Lewis and Charles put in two solid laps that netted them the eighth and tenth places respectively. Tomorrow, after the 19 lap Sprint Race, parc ferme restrictions are lifted and the teams can work on the cars ahead of qualifying for the Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton: We'll need to review today's session, as the car showed promising pace and I was generally satisfied with its balance in FP1 and SQ1. However, for the rest of Sprint Qualifying, I found it challenging to maintain that pace. We'll regroup tonight to discuss the best approach for tomorrow's race given our starting position.

Charles Leclerc: My lap in SQ3 was clean and I didn't leave anything on the table. Maybe we could have fine tuned the car a bit more if we had done some more runs on the Medium compound this morning, but the maximum we could have gained there would be a tenth.

We will give everything to find something more for tomorrow, but for now it seems that this is the potential of our car this weekend.

Check out our Friday gallery from COTA here.